Loki
by The 21st Century Scribe
Summary: As Loki sits in the dungeons of Asgard, he is given something that forces him to relive the memories of his past, all of which, are not as pitiful as he remembers them to be.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

His imprisonment meant nothing to him; Odin was just in fear of him overruling his power. Loki, the God of Mischief, thumbed the cup in his hand and began to toss it in the air, but soon the act became droning and he sighed; placing it back down at his bedside table, he got up and began to pace around his room, looking out of his window and casting glares at the guards standing watch.

Suddenly, a faint shuffle of feet could be heard, as somebody neared his cell.

The guards in their shining golden armor straightened their backs and stood alert as a woman with flowing red waves of hair came walking up to him with a tattered old book clutched in her hands.

"Hello mother, come to pity me some more," Loki sneered.

The woman held the book and placed it through the wall.

"I won't take your desperate attempt at charity."

"Please, Loki, just take it. It's _important_."

His expression remained in its harsh state, but he hesitated, "How do I know this isn't just another way for Odin to watch me? Is he really that frightened?" Loki glanced at the guards again.

"Loki, I took this from Odin: he was going to destroy it, but I couldn't let him, because I knew how much it may mean to you."

Loki took the book of crumpled pages from her hands and stood completely still. He glanced at her face of stone and then back down at the book. What could possibly interest him more than the beautiful pictures of New York, burning, in his head? He moved his hand over the cover, wiping away some stray dust and looked back to his mother only to find that she had left. Exhaling sharply, he turned on his heels back to his bed. He sat down and opened the book to the first page, where his stuttering heart surprised him. Written in the top, left-hand corner was the name Eris. The book fell out of his hands and crumpled on the floor and Loki's mouth hung slightly open as he bent down and gingerly picked up the ruffled pages.

Slowly, he opened the book more and he began to flip through the pages; they were filled with drawings of the people of Asgard, and as he flipped, he stopped on a picture of himself. In the picture he looked happy, a feeling, Loki felt, was a mistake. He kept turning pages to the very back of the book, when suddenly, his heart stopped altogether. A picture of a girl, beautifully drawn, stole all of the beats of his heart. She was younger than he, appearing to be about sixteen years of age to a midgardian, with an elegant smile and long golden hair that flowed down her shoulders in ringlets capturing the warm sunlight. Atop her head, she wore a crown of gold and around her forearms; golden bands were set to acknowledge her royalty.

Loki knew this girl, and her name was Eris, the Goddess of Chaos. Her smile beamed at him, but in his heart he knew that, in this drawing, she was terrified; after all, he was the one that drew it.

* * *

It was a rather cold night, throughout Asgard, and a light snow fell, dusting the kingdom in a fine white. However, this did not dampen the spirits of two young gods that wrestled by a warmly lit fire.

"You grow weaker, my brother. Shall we stop or shall we continue, allowing me to defeat you once and for all." huffed Thor.

"You would have to kill me first, before I ever let you win!" spat Loki.

"That can be arranged," sneered Thor.

Loki stopped struggling, "You jest."

"Maybe, but that would make me king before you would ever be!"

"Then I mustn't die, because it is my birth right to be king." said Loki.

Thor stood up, laughed, and held out an arm. "Then let us see if birth right can be beaten in a race."

Loki's eyes glowed.

"We race to the throne, the winner will be the King of Asgard." spoke Thor.

"The King of Asgard," repeated Loki.

Thor found a crack in the floor and stepped behind it. "We can start the race here."

Loki joined him.

"On the count of three, brother. One… Two...Three!"

Thor took off at a great speed and laughed when he noticed that Loki had tripped on the trimming of a carpet.

Loki stared down the corridor as Thor turned around a corner and disappeared. He reached up to his lip and growled to himself: blood dripped from it slowly. He ignored the pain and got off the floor. With the time that was wasted, Thor would be nearing the throne, thinking that he was about to win, but Loki had a different idea.

Thor entered the vast throne room and started to sprint down the long lead to the throne, but Loki appeared out of a door closer to the throne.

Loki ran to the lead, but suddenly stopped a few yards in front of Thor.

"Brother, look out! I can't stop: I'm going too fast!

Loki's eyes widened before Thor suddenly ran into him.

Expecting a solid thud and for Loki to be knocked over, Thor fell to the ground. He opened his eyes and to his astonishment, Loki was nowhere to be found.

Thor jerked his head to the quick pounding of feet on the floor, to see Loki speeding past him along the lead.

"It's my birth right, brother!" he called.

Thor rose from the ground and set off behind him. "You tricked me!"

Loki climbed up the steps to the throne and collapsed into it.

"It's part of the game, brother," he panted.

Thor stopped at the bottom of the steps. "Tricks were not in the rules!"

"I don't remember any rules, except get to the throne and become king."

Thor was about to speak a rebuttal when their father, King Odin of Asgard, appeared.

Loki noticed and immediately sprung from the throne, "Father!"

Thor jumped from the floor and turned to greet him, "Good evening father!"

"What have you boys been doing?" he asked.

Loki began to describe their race to the throne, but King Odin began to glance about the place, impatiently.

"Where is your mother?" He interrupted.

"M-mother?" stammered Loki.

Thor shrugged, "Father what is that you're carrying?"

He had been pointing to a small bundle in his arms, but the question was not answered before a guard with a monotone voice spoke, "The Queen was last seen tending to her dinner guests, my King."

"Go, at once, and retrieve her." demanded Odin.

Thor and Loki began to politely make their way to their father, but he stopped them in their tracks.

"Boys, I think it is time that you retired to bed."

They didn't protest. Loki simply nodded and Thor bowed his head.

"Yes, Father." They said in unison.

Together they trudged out of the hall and down the corridor.

Loki glanced back and saw his mother rushing into the hall in great urgency, and then he turned the corner and walked off to bed.

* * *

"Odin what is it this time? You know it worries me when you visit unkindly realms and bring back something that was never meant to be yours." Lady Frigga, Queen of Asgard, hurried to her husband's side.

"I found her lying in the cold, just as I did with our boy; her parents were killed by the guards that came with me." explained Odin.

"She is not _ours_ to keep. She doesn't belong here and she'll find that out in the end."

Odin scratched his beard and straightened his neck. "That is not the same thinking you had with our son."

Lady Frigga gave him a daring look before exiting the room in a hastily.

"She'll come around," he said softly, "Now what shall we call you? Surely, something as beautiful and as delicate as you should be given a strong name."

The king puzzled as he traveled to his chambers and set his new baby girl in a nearby rocker. The rocker swayed a bit when he set her down, but settled as he walked away. He walked to his window and opened the large double doors; a sudden blast of cool air swept into the room, blowing with it a swirl of snow.

"Eris," he whispered gently, "that is what I will call you."

He supported the little baby, Eris, in his arms, and carefully placed a hand on her forehead.

"Your mother says you will find out someday that you are not mine, but I say that it does not have to be that way."

The little baby opened her eyes and stared at her father for the longest time before releasing a wide yawn and closing them again to dream for a while.

Odin smiled; this was _his _daughter now and he was determined to do whatever it took to keep it that way forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Eris began to grow into a lovely tot with bright blue eyes, as bright as Loki's, and curly dirty blond hair that ruffled down her shoulders, bouncing when she flounced around as Loki chased her.

Lady Frigga walked in and Eris screamed when Loki almost got a hold of her. "Mother!"

She ran to the Queen and held tightly to the hem of her gown.

"Boys, I told you not to get her looking so sordid before her celebration tonight." Scolded Queen Frigga.

Thor came up from the floor where Eris had playfully tackled him to the ground earlier and said, "We were only playing mother. We haven't spoiled her yet."

"Well, just be careful and don't hurt each other," she glanced specifically at the boys and walked, regally, out of the hall.

Loki and Thor exchanged looks and looked back towards their sister.

She had sat down on the floor, gazing up at them with her big blue eyes. "What?"

Thor and Loki held their arms behind their backs and began to walk slowly around Eris.

"Brother! How long do you think we would have to tickle her to make her laugh?" asked Loki.

Thor pondered this, mockingly, for a second before saying, "I don't believe I know, but we can always figure it out for ourselves."

Eris squealed and jumped from the floor.

Within seconds, the boys advanced on her and Thor scooped her up, then he plopped onto the ground. Loki stood over Eris and tickled her all over.

She immediately began to laugh.

"Well, I take it, not that long!" chuckled Loki.

When he finally stopped, she continued to laugh, contagiously, and soon both of the boys had joined in the noise. Their laughter rang out through the hall alerting some of the guards, who would chortle to themselves when they realized what it was.

This went on for a long while until they noticed that Eris had fallen asleep.

Thor gently picked her up and with Loki at his side he carried her to her chambers. Eris's chambers had light blue walls and a big window for her to look out of.

"To see all of the realms of the universe with," King Odin had replied when Queen Frigga had asked him what he wanted the new child to have a window for.

Thor laid her down on her bed and whispered to Loki, "Are you coming to dinner brother?"

Loki nodded, "In a minute."

Thor looked back at Eris and left the room.

Loki brought a chair next to her bed, and sat down. Next to her bed was a small table and on it was a little book. He grabbed it and flipped through it once. It was empty. Their mother had gotten it for Eris, in case she felt like drawing. Loki opened it to the front page and set it on his knee. Then he felt around the side of the table for a drawer, inside of it were a whole bunch of writing utensils that Eris, being too young to know how to use them, had never touched. He picked one out at random and closed the drawer quietly. He looked at Eris's sleeping face and reached forward to move a strand of hair. He then started to draw her with quick gentle strokes. Eris stirred a couple of times, but never moved enough to make him start over and when he was almost finished with the picture he realized that her big blue eyes were staring open at him.

"I thought you were sleeping and I…um." Loki let out a small laugh and closed the book.

Eris smiled up at him, "We need to go help mother with the party brother."

"The party has already begun my sister."

"We're late?" she started.

Loki laughed again, "Well, we won't be if we leave now."

Eris crawled off the bed and ran out the door. "Come, brother, we're late!"

Loki got up from the chair smiling, but then he remembered the book and he reached for it, pulled out the picture of Eris, folded it into his pocket, and tossed the book back on the table.

* * *

The party was a grand event held every year for the little princess, Eris. The great halls were always filled with the happy laughter of the King's drunken men and the delighted squeals of the young princess, her brothers, and their friends.

"Thor, would you help your sister get a drink of water please." called Lady Frigga.

Thor struggled against his opponent that had challenged him to wrestle and Loki stood to the side enjoying the event. But, he soon left his position to help Eris instead.

"I'll help her mother." said Loki.

He walked over to Eris who stood on her tiptoes, looking over the edge of a table at a pitcher of water, and picked her up.

"Need a little help?" he asked her.

"I can do it, brother." she said.

"Oh, can you?"

She nodded and picked up the jug with two hands, and poured out a little stream that barely filled the bottom of the cup.

Loki laughed and helped her pour the rest of the glass. Then they left the table and Eris went running leaving Loki to hold the cup.

Thor had won his wrestling match and he stood proudly over his heaving oppressor.

"Again?" he said.

The boy on the ground laughed and stood up shaking his head vigorously.

Thor spotted Loki and waved him over, "I think I've found you a good match, brother."

"I hardly think I could master such an excellent sportsman such as this, my dear brother. His skills are much higher than mine." Loki said.

Thor laughed heartily and turned to his friends.

"Who wants a drink?"

His friends all roared happily at him and followed him to the table. Meanwhile, Loki and Eris sat on the floor speaking to each other.

"Brother?" said she.

"Yes?"

"Can I see it?"

"See what?" asked Loki.

"The drawing." she said.

Loki smiled, took it out of his side pocket and placed it into her tiny hands.

As she opened the piece of parchment, her smile widened.

Loki glanced at her face, which was unchanging. "How did I do?" he asked.

Eris didn't hesitate. "It is very good."

"Well it's yours, if you like?"

She nodded and bounced up from the floor. "Can I have my drink of water, brother?"

"Oh! Yes, I almost forgot about that."

Loki grabbed the glass and held it out to her.

Smiling, she took it from him and held it for only a few moments, when something terrible happened.

The glass shattered into tiny pieces and flew in every direction; some of the pieces clung to Eris's dress and others cut her skin.

Loki retrieved only a single cut across his cheek, but he looked at his little sister, terrified and with the thought that she was seriously injured.

"Eris! Eris, are you alright?" he asked kneeling at her side.

The young girl had a look of mixed fright and surprise on her face; then she slumped into her brothers arms, unconscious.

The party guests had now realized what had just happened and some of the women were screaming.

King Odin came rushing over. "What happened boy?"

"I don't know she was only holding the glass of water I had given her and when I looked back, it had shattered completely." said Loki in shock.

Odin placed a hand on her forehead and took Eris from Loki's arms.

"Frigga, excuse your guests."

The queen looked at the king quite pallidly and nodded and without another word, he raced down the hall with Loki trailing closely at his heels.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

It had only been a half-hour since the incident with the glass had happened and now Eris lay on her bed, asleep. Loki knelt next to her and touched her brow which was as cold as ice.

"Is she dying?" he asked.

Odin shook his head and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "I do not know, my boy."

Loki's heart plummeted with the thoughts of Eris dying and he gazed at her, longing for the young girl to wake.

Suddenly, Thor walked into the room with the Lady Frigga following closely behind him.

"How is she?" asked the Lady.

Odin shook his head as he had done before making Thor stop in his tracks.

"She is fading," he said, "but we mustn't think that way. Come, we need to let her rest."

Odin turned and left the room with the Queen and Thor still stood like a statue in the middle of the chamber.

For a single moment, neither of them said anything.

"How-how is she, brother?" stuttered Thor.

"She's as cold as ice." replied Loki softly. It sounded as if he was trying to keep himself from crying.

Thor paced to the opposite side of Eris's bed and stooped over her. Her knitted eyebrows made her look in pain and her porcelain face was draining into a sickening white. Thor touched her cheek and recoiled: it was like stroking the face of a corpse.

"How long do you think she has?" he asked.

Loki stiffened and didn't answer and as seeing that he was not about to get an response, Thor lumbered out the doorway and the room was silent, save the quiet sigh of Eris's shallow breath.

Loki held Eris's hand and he began to tremble.

"I swear to you Eris, that you will live. You're going to be alright, I promise. I pro-"

His voice broke off and he bowed his head. "Please don't die." He said, and then he kissed her hand and brushed her hair away from her face. He didn't leave her side once in the night.

* * *

Odin pushed his hair back out of his eyes and sat down in his throne.

"You should have left her," spoke Lady Frigga, "She doesn't belong here."

"SHE BELONGS HERE JUST AS MUCH AS OUR SON!" yelled Odin. His voice rang out through the halls.

Frigga held her ground. "She is a threat to our son! Look what happened!"

"It was a broken glass, Frigga!"

"You saw how those shards had cut her, Odin, what if they hit him?"

"They did not though."

The queen quieted her voice and fell silent.

"She just has powers that we do not understand yet, like Loki. But you taught him, Frigga, and look at him now. I know you can teach her too." said Odin.

Frigga shook her head in her hands and Odin took her shoulder in his. "You will see what greatness she is destined for, don't worry.

A small creak echoed through the great opened walls and Thor appeared. "I-I heard yelling." he started.

Odin grinned at the boy, "It is nothing to be worried about, my son."

"Mother, are you alright?"

Frigga had a few tears streaming down her face, but she wiped them away and straightened her neck. "I'm fine, darling. Come, let's go get our rest." She took his hand and walked with him out of the hall.

Odin sat back in the throne and rubbed his forehead. The stress of the night had officially gotten to him and he hated it so. As soon as he had sat down, he rose from the glorious seat of power and humbled out of the hall as well.

* * *

Loki woke very early in the morning and looked about very confused, before remembering that he had slept on the floor of Eris's room. The sun was just coming up and it filled the room with a soft golden glow. Loki shouldered himself from the ground and shivered: it was frigid in the room, but the windows were not even open. He jerked his head to see that Eris was still sleeping and bent over her to touch her face. It was warm and his heart fluttered when her eyes opened up at him.

"Brother." She whispered.

Loki smiled as he knelt beside her. "Sister."

Eris smiled back and gave him a hug. Loki let his arms envelope her and he kissed her head, he never wanted to let go, but suddenly something that felt like frozen needles pricked his lips and he looked at her face.

"What was that?" he asked, suddenly surprised.

Eris looked around; obviously, she did not know what he meant.

Odin and Frigga walked in and seemed very happy to see Eris awake and living, or at least the king seemed so.

"How are you feeling dear?" asked Odin.

Eris shook her ringlets and smiled, "I feel fine." She said.

"Then all is well." said the king. The he looked at Loki, "You look dreadful, my son."

Loki rubbed his eyes and replied, "I slept on her floor all night."

Frigga walked to Loki and held him in her arms, "Then it would be best if you went and got some rest, alright dear?"

He nodded and gave one last look to Eris before leaving her room. As he walked, he couldn't help but think that the feeling he just had was linked to what happened the night before with the glass.

Frigga looked at Eris, "It is frigid in here child, how do you stay warm?"

Eris gazed at her with lovely blue eyes and said, "The cold doesn't bother me."

Odin laughed and picked up the girl, "Shall we have you dressed and so we can go out for a morning ride?"

Eris nodded with excitement flaring in her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The air ruffled her little curls as she stepped out into the warm glow of the sun and breathed in the fresh air. Her father stood beside her holding one of her tiny hands and smiling down at her.

"Where shall we ride today, my dear Eris?"

A guard walked off to fetch a horse.

Eris shrugged her shoulders and laughed, "Wherever the horse wants to go, I guess."

Odin grinned and gazed down at her. "I have an idea." he said.

The guard was rounding a corner with a rather handsome horse in tow.

"There is someone that I finally want you to meet, Eris." said Odin.

The guard led the horse to a halt in front of them and Odin patted its head before placing Eris atop his saddle. Then Odin swung a leg over the horse, placing himself upright on the beautiful beast. The king carefully placed his arms around Eris to grab the reins and with a soft kick the horse proceeded to trot away from the guard.

Once out of sight of the guard, Odin turned the horse onto a different path and gave him another soft kick allowing the horse to race through the walkways between houses and gardens. Very few citizens gave irritated looks before realizing that the king had passed and quickly gave a slight bow of the head.

The horse rounded a few other corners until he came upon it at last - a bridge of excellence and beauty. Colors flashed like lightning through the glassy surface and quickly changed colors before hitting the exterior and changing again.

Eris laughed in utter joy as their horse began to gallop across the bridge, causing the bridge to crackle and spark in colors where the hooves of their beast clattered against it and disappear as if nothing had crossed it in the first place. At the end of this bridge, sat a small metal structure that would be identical to an observatory roof if not for the spike protruding from its side.

Their horse came to a stop in front of the little round structure and King Odin dismounted his beast. Eris held out her arms to be lifted from the horse.

Dismissing the horse with a pat on the back, the king grabbed his daughter's small hand and walked with her inside.

A tall man with dark skin and completely covered in golden armor stood in the middle of the structure withdrawing what appeared to be a sword from a crystal sheath, mounted high upon some stairs. He bowed low when he saw the king and the young princess enter.

"Welcome, my King." he said in a very deep voice that resonated throughout the room. "And the princess."

Eris blushed and curtsied with a small grin.

"I am very pleased to introduce you to Heimdall-Guardian of the Bifrost." announced Odin proudly to Eris.

Heimdall bowed again and said, "The pleasure is greatly mine."

Eris couldn't help to notice his eyes were a light amber sort of color, but she had been told about this before. She was told that he was a Seer, that he could see anything or anybody in any realm. All Seers had that color in their eyes.

"I am very pleased to see that the princess is well again." spoke Heimdall.

Odin nodded in agreement, "It was a pleasant surprise to find her awake this morning." He smiled down at Eris; however, Eris wasn't looking at him, she was intently gazing at the center of the Bifrost where Heimdall had withdrawn the sword.

"What does it do?" she asked.

Heimdall laughed. "It can take you anywhere that you wish to travel."

Her eyes widened a bit and it was Odin that laughed next.

"Anywhere that you can handle at least." he said.

He led her up the stairs and she let go of his hand to circle around it. To her, it seemed as if all of the energy from the bridge ended up here, powering the Bifrost so it could take people to places only imaginable. It captivated her and gently she placed a hand on it and closed her eyes. She could feel all of the energy running through her, but it wasn't harsh and hot like electricity, it was like the fluttering of a child's heart – soft and warm.

Opening her eyes, she found that she was no longer in the Bifrost standing next to her father or Heimdall. Surrounding her were tall spikes of ice and snow fell like dust in the wind, blinding her every time she opened her eyes. She found a narrow opening with her hand that led out of the ice and let her foot slide through it and crunch onto a frosted ground.

Everything here was tinted a dark blue or a balmy gray, especially the towers that loomed in the distance. Eris squinted at these in wonder and then she saw something move next to one of the towers. It was a human form that crouched forward and hunched its back. Slowly, it paced back and forth, but then it began to run towards Eris.

A shrill shriek filled the air and hundreds of others spilled over the edges of the towers, some crawled like spiders along the ground and others ran like charging soldiers.

As they neared, Eris became frightened and she crouched, burying her face into her arms, she hoped the men wouldn't touch her and she started to cry. She wanted her father or somebody to come and save her, but she was lost and had no notion of her father finding her.

A crackle of frost, told her that somebody stood right next to her, but she buried her face deeper and wished harder that they would all just disappear. The crunching didn't stop, but now it was much more frantic as if they had all started running again, but they were not running towards her. Suddenly sounds of cracking ice filled the air and the solid thud of bodies rumbled the ground.

Hope rushed through her veins that perhaps her father had come with his men and had snuck up on the attackers. She opened her eyes and raised her head slowly. She screamed and tears started to pour down her face: standing no more than a foot away from her were two manlike creatures with dark blue skin and bright red eyes frozen solid in place, with the petrified expression of anger.

Eris was mortified, beside the two, a few others had frozen in place around her, but the majority of them were lying dead in heaps.

The air fell silent until a faint crumbling could be heard and as it got louder, Eris whipped her head around to find the cause. They had all died, except for one. He crept up behind her staring at her with his hostile, red eyes; however, this one was different, he had recognition in his expression and he held out a hand to Eris, but she did not take it, she shuffled backwards against a spike and held a look of terror on her face.

The creature continued to move towards her, but it lashed its head over its shoulder to glower at a beam of light that had shot down and sprayed icy rubble everywhere.

Eris shielded her eyes until the light ceased and when she opened them, her father stood tall in his golden plated armor in the whipping snow. The creature before him did not bow, but growled at him and retreated, slowly, back into the darkness of the towers of ice.

Odin had a betrayed look on his face and his eyes fell on his daughter, cowering in the snow. "Eris, my dear."

She held up her head and stared at him with an unstopping gaze of blue. Then she got up and ran to his side. Odin took her with an arm and swept his cape around her. "Come, my dear, let us leave this awful place."

She stooped her head and looked back the way the man had gone. Somehow, she couldn't help but feel a sense of recognition about him too.


End file.
